Brainwashed employees...

[tailStrike]

Just had an argument with Wal-Mart employees in the jewelry department to get a watch battery replaced after they refused to open my girlfriend's watch because it wasn't purchased there.

Said that it was against their "policy" and they couldn't do it and couldn't hand me a tool to open the case to find the size of the battery myself.

Anywho, could get into conversation about how much $ I spend there on a regular basis and good customer service and what not or the fact that I should just go elsewhere, but the point I'm trying to make is how frightening their stance was on what "corporate" told them to do. It was as if they were talking about the word of God. I just can't believe as low as these people are paid and the dismal health and other benefits they are afforded, not to mention the fact that they are shown an anti-union video as part of their training, that they would give a shit about what "corporate" told them they can or cannot do.

Anyways, I'm not brainwashed or a sheep, so I wasn't leaving without that damned battery and I didn't .

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Sorry to say it, but IMO I think you are wrong in this case. I think they are probably that way because they would likely be out of a job if they where to mess up your girlfriends watch, or allow you to mess up your girlfriends watch with their tools.

You probably need to look at and blame the customer base (or our society in general) and not the employee for the cause. Where people are more than willing to sue others for their own incompetence. Where if the watch were purchased in Walmart, and they messed it up they could easily replace the watch. It is the $49 Casio that you bought at K-mart get messed up, and all of a sudden is a collectors item valued at that of a Rolex where the issue probably lies. I think they were simply protecting their job in the same sense that if I were your client and requested something from you that your supervisor indicated to be an issue and could end in your termination, you would likely be just as inclined to not help me out.

 

[Eracer]

Amen to that Jayhawk. We want to live in a WalMart world, we'd better get used to doing things the WalMart way.

 

[eclark53520]

I believe there are more people that work at walmart that care more about there jobs than anywhere else. If they loose that job they probably wont eat next week, the lights might not be on much longer and i doubt they would have anywhere to live. This is not ALL employees of walmart but a good share of them. Every person i know that works at walmart is in this situation.

They have alot to loose if they loose their job. Where as a lot of people with well payed jobs with good benefits could really care less(not all but i know a quite a few that feel this way) because they can get another job like that pretty easily with their qualifications and they have the money in the bank to get them through the period in between those jobs.

This realization came to me one day when i was walking out to my first vehicle(a rusted out 88 cavalier probably worth about 200$) and some middle aged soccer mom in a Suburban slammed her door into mine. As i confronted her she said "What do you care? That car is just a big peice of shit" Well, if i loose my car, i am out, i have no other way of getting to my job tomake money to buy a new car. She would be able to afford to buy a brand new car and not even blink an eye. Just because somethings market value is very low doesnt mean that thing isnt all someones got. That car might have only been worth a 64th of that suburban but it was all i had.

 

[Eracer]

This realization came to me one day when i was walking out to my first vehicle(a rusted out 88 cavalier probably worth about 200$) and some middle aged soccer mom in a Suburban slammed her door into mine. As i confronted her she said "What do you care? That car is just a big peice of shit"

Oh my gawd I would have gone off on her!

First, I would have asked for her driver's license and her insurance information. If she balked, I would have called the police. I always carry a camera, so I would taken pictures of EVERYTHING.

If she had been apologetic I would have just blown it off and said something like "don't worry about it, I can't even see where you hit it."

But cop a "holier than thou" attitude like that?

 

[warbirdlover]

I agree with Eracer. That woman needed a lesson in humility. :unhappy:

 

[tailStrike]

Sorry to say it, but IMO I think you are wrong in this case. I think they are probably that way because they would likely be out of a job if they where to mess up your girlfriends watch, or allow you to mess up your girlfriends watch with their tools.

You probably need to look at and blame the customer base (or our society in general) and not the employee for the cause. Where people are more than willing to sue others for their own incompetence. Where if the watch were purchased in Walmart, and they messed it up they could easily replace the watch. It is the $49 Casio that you bought at K-mart get messed up, and all of a sudden is a collectors item valued at that of a Rolex where the issue probably lies. I think they were simply protecting their job in the same sense that if I were your client and requested something from you that your supervisor indicated to be an issue and could end in your termination, you would likely be just as inclined to not help me out.

I didn't hand the girl a Rolex - it was a $10 watch my girl got from Maurices on a buy one get one sale AND I expressed repeatedly that I didn't care if the watch was destroyed in the process. Not to mention the fact that it literally took 5 seconds to pop the back off that watch once they finally gave in. My point is that we should not be so willing to accept things as they are. If one person sued them over scratching their Seico, they should not punish all their customer base with some stupid policy. Very tacky to tell me, especially after walking directly from the checkout after having purchased over a hundred dollars in groceries (which is pretty typically a weekly spending at their establishment), that they couldn't help me unless I buy a watch from them.

And if my supervisor asked me to do something f&cking stupid, I wouldn't do it. I have a mind of my own and any sort of rule is meant to be applied with some sort of judgement. Things aren't so black and white.

 

[eclark53520]

So lets say you did something nice for someone, accidentally screwed it up, they sued and won thousands of dollars.

Are you going to turn around and do that same thing again for someone else even if they "promise not to sue you"?

 

[The bid]

Thats what you get for shopping at Walmart. I wouldnt step foot in a Walmart of Target for anything. I would pay double before I would go in either. Regards

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

Not to mention the fact that it literally took 5 seconds to pop the back off that watch once they finally gave in.

Wait a second, so now you are criticizing them for something they did do in the manner for which you thought they should???

This now just seems as some rant against people who work for corporations and don't have the same convenience to tell their corporations and supervisors to go F' themselves simply because it doesn't make sense to you. I didn't say it was a Rolex, that was my whole point. That and the fact that they are forced to make a decision and intrust their job in someone they don't know on the assumption that they are being a completely honest and hardworking person. For which on here you seemed unwilling to mention the fact that they did finally give in.

So in response to that, I would simply say that maybe they were simply more observant than you give them credit in being able to read your character in your deception. Personally based on the information you provided in your initial post, they seemed to be ahead in the game.

Seems to me this is your way of saying this is all a matter of you needing to be treated like a King in Walmart because you spend a lot of money there, and the peasants that work there don't have the financial means to tell there employer to go F' themselves when they don't cater to your specific needs.

Yeah, that is my rant, I really hate it when someone trys to make an argument and tries to get people to back them, yet don't provide all the facts. Is this some method to make you simply feel better about yourself???

edit - Maybe they were trying to figure out why you were putting a $5 battery in a $10 watch, yet you seem to think it is worth them risking their job for your $10 watch.

 

[Skiddlydiddly]

lol. So, somebody risked thier job to help you out with your 10 dollar watch, and that's not good enough?

 

[Eracer]

edit - Maybe they were trying to figure out why you were putting a $5 battery in a $10 watch, yet you seem to think it is worth them risking their job for your $10 watch.

A $5 battery that will last 10 years, which works out to $0.50 per year.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

lol. So, somebody risked thier job to help you out with your 10 dollar watch, and that's not good enough?

Now the Rolex Comment even makes more sense, if they broke the watch they would have to replace it with one that percent wise would be replacing the $49 Casio with a Rolex and it would come out of their own pocket.

Personally I would have said I don't have 20 minutes to spend working on a watch for the sake that it probably won't go back together nicely without the combination of superglue, the battery and my time which would be of higher value than the watch and they should take all that money they spent in the store and buy their girlfriend a nice watch. Maybe a $49 Casio. But I have the luxury of saying that simply because I know I no longer have to work retail and deal with people like this anymore. This is why we have to deal with uncooperative people in retail, because it is a thankless job where you have to deal with people like this all day. I also did it long enough in an area where it was my only means, because I was to proud to take the stance that I could always fall back on unemployment or welfare because my company told me to do something I didn't agree with at the time and I should tell them to go F' themselves.

 

[Pa Jayhawk]

A $5 battery that will last 10 years, which works out to $0.50 per year.

Ahhh, but how long will the watch last. Which would lead me to the next logical question on whether there was not already a problem with the watch, and if she is already replacing the battery prior to 10 years. Because this coming from someone already using your logic, and who is on only their second Casio G-Shock, with the first one having lasted 14 years prior to needing a battery. But I did buy it at Walmart. When the battery on the first went, it was also pretty much the end of the watch by taking it apart and putting it back together.

Just think of the bargain I am getting on my other, which has an Eco Drive system.

 

[sandwedge]

I can't blame the employee for saying no if that is what their policy states. Jobs are hard to come by now and if they are working the jewelry counter at Walmart that is probably a good job for that person. They probably don't want to do anything to jeopardize their job in any way.

You can certainly blame the company for their policy but don't take it out on the low paid employee who is just following the rules and trying to get by.